


Blinding Lights

by SpeakerForTheDead



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, BAMF Link (Legend of Zelda), Breath of the Wild Spoilers, F/M, Link (Legend of Zelda) Needs a Hug, Link fights Ganon instead of Zelda, Pre-Relationship, pre-game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:02:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25541023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpeakerForTheDead/pseuds/SpeakerForTheDead
Summary: When Zelda's power awakens, it damages her. Instead of Link being sealed in the Shrine of Ressurection, Zelda is, and Link has to seal Ganon alone.“SHE DIED IN MY ARMS!”Something flares around Link as he roars and everyone is shocked into silence by the normally quiet man’s outburst. Uncomfortably reminded that this is The Hero, the man who wades through hordes of monsters like it’s nothing and has bested grown men in sword fights since childhood.And he isangry.“Her heart stopped beating twice, Impa,” Link’s voice is quiet in the aftermath of his outburst “I watched her die twice on the way here and had to restart her heart.”Silence reigns as the elders realize just how close Zelda is to death.“I won’t let it happen again.”Link’s expression is hard as steel as he stares down Impa and the sheikah elders and for once pulls rank, quietly ordering, “Get her to the shrine.”For a moment he thinks the sheikah matriarch will refuse, but she nods, something like understanding in her eyes, “As you say, Hero.”
Relationships: Daruk & Link & Mipha & Revali & Urbosa (Legend of Zelda), Daruk & Link (Legend of Zelda), Link & Mipha (Legend of Zelda), Link & Revali (Legend of Zelda), Link & Urbosa (Legend of Zelda), Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 224





	Blinding Lights

**Author's Note:**

> So obviously this is pretty AU.  
> Basically Link has to fight Ganon for 100 years instead of Zelda.  
> I've truly never played the games, so expect some inaccuracies.  
> This is my first fic in this fandom, so I hope you enjoy it!

The rain turns the ground into a slurry of mud and ash, but that isn’t why his footing is weak. 

The changing of marching guardians is deafening, but that isn’t why he can’t hear his princess speak. 

His chest burns but he’s not on fire. 

He’s bleeding heavily from where a guardian has struck him in the chest, his blood is roaring in his ears, and the hero of Hyrule sinks to his knees on a muddy battlefield. Chipped sword of legend clutched in his bloody hand and the sparking corpses of three guardians destroyed around him. 

  
  


“Link,” her hands desperately clutch at the blue champion’s tunic around his shoulders, “save yourself. Go!”

“I’ll be fine.”

Zelda sobs as a guardian approaches and Link struggles to rise, “Don’t worry about me.”

A heavy hand jerks the master sword from the mud as Link stumbles upright, tottering backward as he tries to fall into a defensive stance.

The sword feels too heavy in his injured hands. The guardian is moving too quickly for him to attack. 

He steps in front of the princess anyway as it’s targeting laser spins up, some part of him wants to close his eyes, to simply embrace the end of an impossibly long day, to know that he protected his princess, threw down his life for hers, and know that he could rest. 

But his eyes stay open as he stares down his death, shielding his best friend with his body. 

He readies his sword for one last-ditch attack as the laser fires. 

Link is pushed backward by a firm hand, and something between a “no” and an agonized scream tears from the princess’s throat as she steps into the path of the blast, flaring gold with power. 

For a moment it was like being at the center of a sun. Golden power burning away the hold that malice has on every guardian on the field. Turning their deadly forms into inert husks. 

Goddess energy flows into the chipped sword at his side, the mangled blade faintly pulsing and glowing with an afterimage of Zelda’s sealing power. 

And then just as quickly as the sphere of power erupts, it disappears. 

For an impossibly long moment, time seems to stand still as Link and Zelda stare into each other’s eyes, something like pride and worry shining behind Link’s as he gazes at his princess, his goddess. 

Time restarts at the same moment they both slump to the ground. 

Link drags himself across the mud to her, ignoring the way sticks and stones catch on the edges of his wounds, and pain echos down his bones. 

He finally reaches her, her elfin features stained with mud, and gently shakes her, hissing in pain as the golden energy that surrounds her body sparks at him as he tries to return his princess to consciousness. 

After a moment he notices that her chest is deadly still, none of the rise and fall that accompanies life present. 

With panic bubbling up through his throat, Link scrambles for her throat, desperate to find a pulse as he numbly chants, “no no no no no no nonononono.”

There’s no pulse. 

His princess. Descendants of the goddess Hylia. Possessor of the power to seal the darkness. His best friend, Zelda. Isn’t breathing. 

Before he can do anything, the sword of evil’s bane pulses an electric blue, briefly overpowering the gold of Zelda’s power, and a lilting voice speaks in his head.

“ _Master,”_ Link realizes that the sword is speaking to him like the legends had said it would, like Zelda had asked about so many months before, “ _Master, all is not lost, she can still be saved. This is what you must do.”_

* * *

His hands burn as he performs chest compressions, acrid smoke curling from the burning appendages, the energy that crackles off Zelda’s skin too much for a mere mortal such as himself. 

He pushes through the agony. 

After all, what’s a little pain to an oath sworn to a ruler and a friend. What’s a little pain to a pair of souls bonded together through the centuries 

If he’s honest with himself, Link can admit that he’s dreamed of this. in the early hours between night and dawn as he guards over her during their journeys, the imagined sensation of pressing his lips to hers

But he dreamed of a kiss filled with love and affection, one that tastes of honeysuckle and tea, not one powered by agony and desperation, one that tastes of ash and blood.

* * *

He’s not sure how long he’s been performing compressions, but the rain is no longer flashing into steam as it bounces off Zelda’s skin, and the ethereal glow has faded when he hears running feet and raised voices.

“Captain!”

“Link, are you okay?!”

It's two sheikah running towards them, their armor as dented and dirty as his.

Link recognizes them, a pair of twins that were under his command, a part of the princess’s guard before he was transferred to her permanent guardian.

As they falter in their approach, Zelda shudders and inhales a rattling breath, air rushing into her tired lungs and Link cannot help but slump over in relief. 

She’s breathing. She has a heartbeat. She’s alive. 

But for how long?

Stumbling to his feet, Link scoops up the master sword, the chipped and broken blade still glowing with power. 

“We need to take Zelda to the Shrine of Resurrection, if we don’t go now we could lose her forever.”

The grimness of the sheikah's faces tells him they understand. 

“We go through Kakariko,” he orders, “you take Zelda, and you guard your brother.”

The man scoops up the princess while the woman draws her curved sword.

“And what about you, captain?”

Links fingers flex along the hilt of his sword and he takes stock of himself. 

The pulsing pain of the burns on his hands, the deep lacerations from the guardian’s attacks on his chest, the likely broken ribs increasing his difficulty breathing. 

Hissing in a breath through the taste of blood and clenched teeth, Link unloops his belt and tightens it around his chest, stemming the bleeding and causing him to gasp in pain. 

“I’ll clear a path,” he promises, raised sword a mirror of him, both chipped and bruised, bent but not broken. 

“Let’s go.”

* * *

_Wind howls around him._

_Link stands in a room of swirling air and thundering water, a mountain of a Gerudo man laughing menacingly in front of him._

_Zelda stands at his side, younger, her face slightly different, but still Zelda._

_Link is clad in a green tunic instead of his champion garb, but the sword in his hand is the same and the warm presence is familiar as well. His hand is small, but the hilt of the master swords still slides between his fingers like it was made for him._

_The laughing man draws his swords, and threatens, “let me show you your future.”_

_Link feels power fill him as the symbol of the Triforce glows on his hand, and he lunges forward with a mighty cry._  
  
  


* * *

Link cuts a bloody swath through Hyrule. 

His desperation and determination have given him a second wind, and he rips through packs of Moblins and Bokoblins like they're paper. 

The only time they slow is when they encounter lone guardians, but they don't slow for long. Link dismantles them with unbridled fury, his moves sloppy and jerky in his pain and anger, but no less devastating. 

It takes half a day to reach Kakariko, and in that time the sheikah only had to draw their blades once, when the princess stopped breathing again and Link revived her.

“Impa,” Link calls as they stumble into the village rain, ash and blood coating his skin, “Help her!”

  
  


* * *

Zelda is lying on a table, dress peeled away from her abdomen, her skin mottled purple and red and her breaths painfully shallow.

“There's internal bleeding.”

The sheikah doctor’s face is impressively stoic as she delivers the news, and Link cant help his sharp intake of breath.

“Is there anything you can do to help?” Impa’s voice is unusually shaky, and Link is suddenly reminded that she has been Zelda’s friend and advisor since a young age. That he is no the only one hurting.

“Nothing,” the doctor grimly replies, “I’d normally say wait and see, but for bleeding of this magnitude it's unlikely she’ll make it.”

Blood is roaring through Link's ears as he processes the doctor’s proclamation.

He barely hears the soft, “I'm sorry,” as the doctor ushers them from the room and Impa leads him to a meeting room with various sheikah elders and soldiers.

“We need to save her.”

His voice is hoarse and it hurts his ribs to inhale and speak, but Link’s voice cuts through the room’s murmurs and chattering like a knife.

"If you say there's nothing we can do, that she’s too far gone, then we need to get her to the shrine of Resurrection. 

Impa speaks up, voice firm and serious, “Link, that’s a method of last resort you don’t know if we should-”

“SHE DIED IN MY ARMS!” 

Something flares around Link as he roars and everyone is shocked into silence by the normally quiet man’s outburst. Uncomfortably reminded that this is The Hero, the man who wades through hordes of monsters like it’s nothing and has bested grown men in sword fights since childhood.

And he is _angry._

“Her heart stopped beating twice, Impa,” his voice is quiet in the aftermath of his outburst “I watched her die twice on the way here and had to restart her heart.”

Silence reigns as the elders realize just how close Zelda is to death.

“I won’t let it happen again.”

Link’s expression is hard as steel as he stares down Impa and the sheikah elders and for once pulls rank, quietly ordering, “Get her to the shrine.”

For a moment he thinks the sheikah matriarch will refuse, but she nods, something like understanding in her eye, “As you say, Hero.” 

* * *

  
  


The village descends into a flurry of preparation, the men and women take up arms, forming a guard for the princess on the way to the shrine.

Link knows that she will be safe in their hands, the sheikah are as loyal to the princess as he is.

So he focuses on himself. Gathered potions are stuffed into his bag, spare weapons and armor are discarded as he packs spare clothes and emergency rations, preparations for one last journey.

He’s in the middle of wrapping a bandage around his damaged chest, red seeping through the sterile cloth and wet hair plastered to his forehead when Impa approaches.

“Link,” she asks, “What will you do?”

“I will hold back Ganon,” he says, “Fulfill my oath, my purpose, and fight the Calamity until the princess wakes up.”

“Link…” something between sorrow and pity war on Impa’s face, “It could be a hundred years before she wakes up.”

“Then I’ll hold him for 100 years,” Link swears, conviction like steel in his voice.

His hand drifts to where the master sword is slung across his back. 

A sword whose pommel fits into his hand like it was made for him, fingers sliding into grooves made by hands long in the past. 

“It’s like I was made for this,” he explains, “This is my purpose.”

Impa’s hand is comforting on his shoulder, and he resists the urge to sob, “Protect the princess,” he begs, “Watch over her till she wakes up, please.”

Impa nods as worry clouds her features.

“She might not remember anything, time and the shrine could fog over Zelda’s memories,” Impa explains, “Do you have any items that could jog her memory.”

Link thinks for a second, then draws the Sheikah Slate from his pack, sliding through its menus, deleting everything unimportant and selecting eighteen pictures, eighteen memories.

Taking the tablet, Impa scrolls through the pictures with a satisfied nod, “These should help.”

  
  


“I need to get going,” Link says, approaching Zelda where she lays on a litter, his calloused fingers trailing lightly across her arm, “There's a stop I need to make.”

“Where,” Impa asks as they walk back to his horse.

“The master sword,” Link explains, “I heard it speak to me when Zelda’s power woke up. It told me it had absorbed enough of her sealing magic to start the sealing process, but that it would need me to undergo a trial to bring it back to its normal strength.”

“Where is this trial,” Impa asks, saddling Link’s horse as he slings his pack on his hip.

“The same place this all began,” Link says cryptically, “Korok forest.”

Ah,” Impa says in understanding, “Where you found the sword.”

A nod is all she gets in response.

* * *

“Impa,” Link entreats, emotion catching in his throat, “when she wakes up... can you tell her”

“Words for her would sound much better in your voice,” Impa cuts him off, soft understanding in her tone, “don’t you think?” 

“Yes,” Link agrees sadly, hopping up onto his horse, “thank you, Impa.”

As Link canters out of the village, he hears Impa call out behind him, “Godspeed hero.”

* * *

The Lost Forest is full of tension. The very air seems heavy as Link directs his horse through it, the faint forms of Koroks guiding his way down a path he knows by heart.

The great Deku tree stands tall in it's clearing, the great face in its bark feels like a homecoming even despite the seriousness of the situation.

“I sense there is great strength in your dedication,” the tree greets as Link approaches the cracked pedestal where he drew the Master Sword from so long ago.

“I need strength,” Link entreats, “I know what I need to do but I don't know if I have the strength to do it.”

“Your past lives needed help, as you do now,” The Great Deku tree hums thoughtfully, “You cannot do this alone.”

It wasn’t news to Link, but the tree’s statement still strikes him like a blow. Conviction blooms inside of him.

“Thank you,” he says, drawing the master sword back and driving it forward, plunging it into the pedestal.

As steel meets stone, light flashes, and Link disappears.

The forest is quiet, deathly still as all of time holds its breath.

After a moment that lasts both a second and eternity, light flashes again, and Link appears again, panting for breath and exhausted.

The master sword shines in his hand, unblemished steel repaired to its former glory, full of strength and might.

He stares at it in awe for a moment, before sheathing the legendary blade and mounting his horse with a wince.

Before he exits the clearing, the hero turns back to the Deku tree and asks a question.

“Do you think we’ll win?

“I cannot see the future young hero,” the tree’s leaves rustle as it answers gravely, “only the past.”

“The other heroes then,” Link begs, “when his fight was done, did he live happily?

“It doesn’t matter what you did in a past life. Only what you make of this one.”

Link turns at the tree’s cryptic answer, making to leave the clearing but the Deku tree calls out to him, “But yes, he did, you did.”

* * *

_Magic flares in front of him._

_Link’s tunic is green instead of the familiar pale blue, and a hat hides his shorn hair, but the sword in his hand feels the same, even the spirit inside feels like home. His hand is calloused and scarred in places unfamiliar, but the hilt of the Master Sword still slides between his fingers like it was made for him._

_The barriers of energy are the only things stopping him from hurling himself down the spiraling pit towards a familiar head of blonde hair held captive at the bottom._

_A thundering horde of Bokoblins barrels towards him, but Link draws raises the sword and throws himself into battle with a cry._

* * *

  
  


Castle town is home to nothing but ghosts.

Fires smolder in the ashes of homes and shops, nothing left of familiar pubs and restaurants but rubble. 

The town is surprisingly quiet in the shadow of the Calamity, Link hears guardians in the distance but pays them no heed as the glowing Master sword draws him slowly inwards towards the castle.

As the castle doors part in front of him, Link feels the full force of Ganon’s attention and rage direct towards him. Dust shakes from the rafters from the weight of his rage.

“Leave now, Hero,” the Calamity threatens, “Or meet your doom.”

Link trudges onwards, heedless of the monster’s threats, and as he reaches the main courtyard Ganon howls and Malice swirls as an enormous beast coalesces in front of Link, toxic machinery dripping with malice and power.

Link draws his sword and prepares to battle the monster when a voice speaks up, the ghostly form of Revali appearing to him.

“Be careful,” the normally antagonistic Rito warns inside Link’s head, “That thing is one of Ganon's own called the Windblight, and it plays dirty! It defeated me... but only because I was winging it.”

Link nods his understanding.

“I can't believe I'm saying this…,” Revali entreats, “But you must avenge me, Link!”

Link lunges into battle with the Blight, dodging massive blasts of energy and Malice, skirting around conjured tornados to strike at the beast.

The sword cuts through the beast easily, great wounds are opened wider by the blade of evil’s bane than a normal sword would be unable to inflict.

It takes time and far too much effort, but the howl of fury from Ganon as the Windblight implodes over the courtyard makes it worth it.

“Good job,” Revali congratulates, “I could have done it faster obviously, but thank you for freeing my spirit.”

Energy flows through Link as Revali speaks up again, “My gale can propel you with great winds if you call upon it.”

Link wills his new power into action and propels himself up the side of the castle where another Blight forms in front of him.

“Watch yourself now!” Daruk’s friendly voice almost causes Link to choke on sorrow as he realizes his friend is dead, but he listens to the Goron’s advice, “That ugly pain in the crag is the Fireblight. That thing got the best of me despite my best try.”

Daruk’s ghostly hand claps Link on the back, sending him stumbling forward, “Good luck, little guy! Go get 'im!”

Heat surges and sparks fly as Link flies into battle with the Blight, ducking underneath the swing of its enormous sword and getting in close to do damage.

With the help of Revali’s Gale, it is easier than it could have been, and when the beast fades into nothingness, Daruk speaks up again, “Nice goin’ little hero!” 

“Here, this should help with the rest of those beasts,” Energy fills Link once again as Daruk bestows his power on the Hylian, “My protection will shield you from the worst of their blows.”

He can feel himself slowing as he treks through the castle, the structure shaking and rumbling around him, dirt and debris piled in corridors and doorways, fallen rubble blocking his path and forcing him to take alternate routes. His wounded chest and accumulated cuts and bruises throb in pain, making him slower and clumsier.

Link curses under his breath as Urbosa’s voice rings in his ears and another one of Ganon’s creations forms.

“Stay on your edge, Link! This formidable adversary is the Thunderblight and brought me to a warrior's demise. Do not allow this to be your end.”

Link raises his sword wearily as Urbosa cries, “Fight for your life... and its death!”

The Thunderblight is blindingly quick, only Daruk’s protection saves him from its lightning-quick blows. With the help of Revali’s gale, he dodges the strikes or crackling energy, getting in close and breaking the Blight’s guard so he can damage it.

Link falls to the ground heavily as the Blight implodes, exhaustion coating his limbs with iron as he gasps for breath.

“Get up, Link,” Urbosa’s spirit orders, “Your journey isn’t over, my Fury will aide you in these next fights.”

Heaving himself to his feet, Link straightens his tunic and goes in search of the final Blight.

He knows he has found it when energy coalesces in front of him and Mipha speaks inside his head, “Please take care, Link,” his oldest friend entreats, “That... thing is one of Ganon's creations, the Waterblight. I put up as much of a fight as I could, but it proved to be my demise... Regardless...I believe you are well prepared for this moment.”

As Link readies his sword and new powers, Mipha’s encouragement rings through him, “I have faith in you! You can do this Link!”

Link battles the Blight, unable to use Urbosa’s Fury because of the water everywhere but using Revali's Gale and Daruk's protection to their max, he parries the blows of its massive spear and is blown back by its shockwaves.

It's a long, dirty, drag-out fight, but Link eventually triumphs and energy fills him, healing his wounds with its familiar power.

“It's the least I could do to help,” Mipha says, “Good luck, Link.”

* * *

With his wound healed and filled with new energy as the castle crumbles around him, Link makes his way to the center of the castle, the ballroom where Ganon secreted himself.

He stands before the massive doors, apprehension, and dread filling him in preparation for the biggest fight of his life.

The spirits of the other champions form in front of him, blue ghosts arrayed in a semi-circle.

“This is it,” Urbosa states, “It's time for you to avenge us, to avenge Hyrule.”

I don't know if I can do it,” Link says, “This is huge, this is a literal demon. How am I supposed to fight this?”

“You’ve done it before,” Mipha encourages, drawing him into a hug, “And you won’t be alone.”

“I’m not hugging you,” Revali snarks, “But we have given you our powers, surely the hero of legend can defeat the Calamity.”

“You’ve got this,” Daruk claps him on the shoulder, “We’ve got your back brother.”

The spirits fade away and Link is left staring at an ornate door that is pulsing with Malice.

Falling to his knees, he draws the Master Sword and plants it tip first in the floor, head pressed against the hilt as he prays.

He prays for victory, he prays for the safety of Hyrule, he prays for the safety of Zelda, he prays for the Sheikah. He murmurs his last prayer out loud, “Goddess Hylia lend me your strength.”

The master sword pulses in agreement, Zelda’s sealing power, the Triforce, awakening in anticipation of the fight with Ganon.

* * *

“So you are finally here, Hero,” Ganon rumbles, his smoky form condensing and coalescing into the shape of a demonic boar, “I never imagined you’d be in such a rush to die.”

Link stares up at the demonic boar.

_The hero of legend faces his fated opponent._

“I’m not here to die,” he swears, “But to defeat you.”

“You cannot defeat me!” the Calamity roars, “I am a god!”

“No, you’re just an ugly pig.”

Link draws the sword that will seal the darkness and holds it at his side.

“Besides, I don’t need to defeat you. I just need to buy some time.”

The sword flares gold with the goddesses sealing power and Ganon roars, “NO!”

* * *

A witness would say that the heavens and earth shook as the hero battled the monster.

They would tell the story of how the air was heavy with Malice, an evil power that was offset by the Goddess’s power.

They would tell of how the hero’s blade flashed through the air and thrust into the demon.

But there were no witnesses.

No one sees how Magic and Malice meet with a flash of light and a cacophony of sound, and a sun blooms into existence.

No one sees how the castle falls quiet, how the demon and the hero vanish.

* * *

Link flashes back into existence on a grassy plain, the blue sky offset by the swirling black and red of Calamity Ganon.

_“I have started the sealing process,”_ the Master Sword whispers in his mind, _“But don't have the power to continue it. It is up to you to keep Ganon occupied.”_

_“I can do that,”_ Link says to himself, _“It's what I was made for.”_

* * *

_Power swirls around him as he launches himself in the air, his humming sword glancing off Ganon’s boar body._

_Lightning strikes down, Urbosa’s Fury pinning Ganon to the ground before the demon shakes it off._

_Jets of malice glance off Daruk’s protection, Link returning the attacks with blasts of his own, energy scything out from the Master Sword._

_Link does everything in his power to keep the Calamity occupied, contained._

_They battle themselves into a stalemate, and as time passes Ganon’s tactics changes._

_The demonic boar coalesces into the form of a massive Gerudo man, broad-shouldered and long-haired._

_The fights with the man are almost more brutal than with the boar, where the boar was large and not nimble, the Gerudo was quick, agile, and strong. Their swords clash in a rain of sparks as they meet, break apart, and meet again in a storm of fury._

_Years flow like water and the blood that coats Link’s skin, wounds healed by Mipha’s grace but present all the same._

_There are times when the fighting lulls and Link can turn his attention to Hyrule ever so briefly._

_He catches fleeting glances of villages falling and being rebuilt._

_Hateno Fort withers away under vines and water, and a town springs up nearby._

_Guardians flood Hyrule’s plains and the races retreat to their enclaves. The Zora hide beneath their marble halls and emerald waves. The Rito fly high in the mountains, self-contained in their snowy village. The Gorons continue as Gorons do, remarkably unflappable in the shadow of their erupting mountain. The Gerudo ride the sands like waves, secluded in their matriarchal city._

_The Hylians spread out across their plains, making a living where they can, and keeping their culture alive. The world watches the castle warily, waiting and hoping that the Calamity never returns, that the legends are true and The Hero saved them all._

_100 years pass in the blink of an eye and in an insufferable eternity._

_Then one day, in a secluded chamber beneath the earth, blue eyes shoot open as their owner gasps, and Princess Zelda awakens._

* * *

No being can fight eternally, even the nonstop fight between good and evil has breaks where they step apart, tend their wounds, and ever so warily coexist.

He and Ganon are both sitting down, lungs heaving as they lean against opposing trees, wounds and scars littering their bodies.

“You know,” Link pants out sarcastically, “You’re pretty out of shape for a demon. How are you tired?”

“I don’t remember you being this mouthy,” Ganon growls, “your previous lives were more respectful.”

“Yeah, well my only conversation partner is a demonic pig, so I’ve got to pick up the slack,” Link retorts, “Gotta change it up every couple reincarnations.”

“Don't call me a pig,” Ganon threatens, “Or I’ll kill you.”

“Yeah cause that’s been going so well for you so fa-”

Link and Ganon both shoot upright as a wave of power washes over them.

“Zelda,” Link gasps out.

At the same time, Ganon cries, “The Goddess!”

Before Link can react, a wave of Malice shoots out from Ganon’s form and escapes their confinement.

“No!” Link roars, sword blazing as he re-engages with Ganon, but he is too late to stop the constructs Ganon sent.

He watches in horror as the Ganon Blights reform, and can only hope and pray that Zelda will be okay.

* * *

_Link fights with a new ferocity now that his princess has awoken, every ounce of his might directed towards the Calamity._

_Ganon reforms into the demonic boar as magic thrums around Link._

_He keeps one eye on Zelda as he fights, watches as she reaches Kakariko and reunites with Impa, as she connects with the races of Hyrule and uses her power to defeat the Blights controlling the divine beasts._

_He watches as she approaches the castle, as Ganon roars in anger and draws Guardian after Guardian towards her. Zelda blasts through them like paper, a Shiekah guard taking care of the ones she cant get._

_He watches as she enters the ballroom and vanishes in a flash of light._

* * *

Zelda is here.

She is standing next to him, different hair, different clothes, but still the Zelda he remembers.

“We can do this, Princess,” He promises, “Lend me your power and we can seal him.”

“Together,” She nods.

Zelda flares a brilliant gold with her sealing power, and her magic suffuses the Master Sword.

Armed with the princess’s power, Link plunges back into battle with the Calamity, lightning and winds flying, magic shielding him from the worst of blows, and Mipha’s grace healing the rest.

Zelda’s magic encircles them, keeping Ganon from fleeing as Link ruthlessly cuts down the demonic eyes on his body, each one weakening the demon.

With one last mighty blow, Link strikes Ganon down, pinning the struggling demon to the ground.

Zelda faces Ganon, the Triforce flowing from her like an unstoppable flood, every inch of her covered in liquid gold and shining bright.

The Princess raises her hand and energy circles around Ganon where he is pinned, pushing in closer and closer till it comes in contact with his body, causing the demon to roar in pain.

With one final push, the Triforce crashes down and Ganon dissipates into the wind, wasting away till nothing remains.

_“Did we just… win?”_ Link wonders as the world flashes white and the ground falls out from under them.

* * *

They land in the field in front of Hyrule Castle as the last of Ganon’s malice fades away.

The princess is facing away from him, her short hair waving in the breeze as he gazes toward her, and Link finds himself speaking, the words flowing out uncontrollably.

“I’ve been keeping watch over you all this time, waiting for you,” he rambles, “I always thought- no, I always believed that you would defeat Ganon. I never lost faith in you, my princess.”

“Thank you, Zelda,” emotion is heavy in his voice as she turns toward him blue eyes shining in the sun.

“Princess, may I ask… do you remember me?”

Zelda doesn't say anything, but as she slams into him and they go tumbling to the ground in a tight embrace, Link finds that that is all the answer he needs.

**Author's Note:**

> So, kind of open-ended, but a hopeful kind of end.  
> I hope y'all enjoyed it!  
> If you did, I thrive on validation, so leaving a kudo or a comment would mean a lot to me! ;)  
> Check me out on Twitter, recently made an account, leave some feedback or just come chat [@SpeakerForThe](https://twitter.com/SpeakerForThe)  
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Covid-19 is a serious virus, and even though we have flattened the curve it is not over. We need to keep taking personal protections against it, such as social distancing and staying home if possible.  
> If you hoard essential supplies, I will personally kick down your door and reverse your kneecaps.  
> Everyone stay safe, stay healthy, and help anyone you can. I'll see you on the flip side.


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